Just Breath
by BlueOceanGirl
Summary: Hermione, of course, is Head Girl and, much to her dismay, Draco Malfoy is Head Boy. It's the typical love hate story. Sorry, I'm not good at summaries, but I am pretty good at writing :D
1. Prologue

**_A/N: J.K. Rowlingis the brilliant mind who invented the Harry Potter world; all is rightfully and respectfully hers (now you can't sue me 'cus I said --er wrote-- this!).

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It was the beginning of the trio's seventh year at Hogworts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione Granger was sitting on her four-poster, king-sized bed in her new dormitory. All her hard work had finally paid off (not that she'd done it all for the perks), she was Head Girl. She smiled as she looked around her large room decorated in red and gold.

Hermione's smile slowly faded as she came back to reality. She couldn't believe _he_ was Head Boy! Why did it have to be _him?_! She'd thought Ronald Weasley, one of her two best friends, would have been Head Boy, or at least Justin Finch-Fletchley or Ernie MacMillan. Really, anyone but Draco Malfoy would have done.

Oh, she knew why Dumbledore had chosen him; after all it was all about promoting inter-house unity. Apparently, since the two houses were the worst at getting along (well, who could get along with a Slytherin?), making a member of each house as a Head would set a positive example, which everyone would follow, and blah, blah, blah. Hermione had stopped paying attention --which was very unlike her--right after she found out that Malfoy was Head Boy, because she was so shocked. She remembered the evil smirk he had given as she entered the front carriage on the train. "This'll be interesting, mudblood," he had whispered as he brushed past her on his way out.


	2. Chapter 1

**_A/N Thanks everyone for their responses, I really appreciate them. First off, yes, the chapters will be getting longer, but I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to write as often as I (or you all) would like! I will update as fast as I can, probably about 3-4 times a week-- well, that's what I'm hoping for-- I am slightly busy with working full time and correspondence. I should also say that the Draco/Hermione romance will be a little slow in developing, butI promise itwill come! I want these characters to be as close as I can make them to the real ones, so it'll take some time for everything to fall into place. Lastly, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know it's a bit of a bore.

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"So 'Mione, how's headship going?" Ron asked, the next day, as he swallowed the last of his scrambled eggs.

"Err…not bad…considering," Hermione replied.

"I can't believe that git is Head Boy!" Harry exclaimed. "If he ever lays a hand on you…"

Hermione smiled, Harry and Ron were like the brothers she never had. "Oh look! Timetables!" she exclaimed; she had just noticed the parchments beside them on the table.

"Only you would get excited about timetables, Hermione," Harry laughed. "We have Care of Magical Creatures first today. I wonder what Hagrid'll start off the year with?"

"Probably an Erumpent," Ron snorted. "Ugh. Look what's next though."

"Double Potions," Harry groaned. "I was hoping Snape would be eaten by the Giant Squid and then we'd have a new teacher."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's not very nice. We should at least be civil towards him since he helped us defeat Voldemort and all."

"Hell would freeze over before Snape acts civil towards anyone who's not in Slytherin, so why should we be any different?" replied Harry.

"Because it's what's right," she answered as if that settled the matter.

"Hey look at this," Ron said, pointing to his timetable, "We have every single class with the Slytherins. Why?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear Dumbledore's speech?" Hermione asked, with a sigh, "Remember the 'we have to get along or else' speech? I suspect Dumbledore's trying to get us to do just that." Hermione looked at her watch, noticing that there was five minutes left before class would start. "We should probably get going. Class'll start soon," she added, getting up.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ron said, as he and Harry got up and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall.

No sooner had they arrived at Hagrid's cabin did Hermione stop dead in her tracks. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"I forgot I have a meeting with Dumbledore _right now_! Can you please tell Hagrid for me?" she asked as she turned around back to the castle.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Harry said.

"Thanks!" she replied, running towards the castle as fast as she could.

Less than five minutes later, Hermione was standing in front of Dumbledore's office, panting and clutching the stitch that had become apparent at her side. She gasped the password ("Sugar Quills") and ran inside. She ran up the revolving staircase and knocked on the door. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized as Dumbledore opened the door and gestured for her to come in.

"It's no problem at all," he smiled gently, "Take a seat." She took a seat beside a smirking Malfoy. Dumbledore sat down in his chair behind his desk and began to speak. "Well to start off, I hope –rather, I expect-- to see that you two make an attempt to be civil towards each other. After all, you are in your last year, here at Hogwarts, so I can only hope you can set a mature and positive example for the rest of the students.

"A lot has happened since the semester before summer," Dumbledore continued. "Alliances were broken, as well as new ones made. One can only hope that we have learned our lesson; we are all on the same side here, regardless of parentage or ancestry.

"Now that I have said that, I have a bit of exciting news," Dumbledore smiled. "In order to encourage harmony within the school, we have decided to organize several events throughout the year. The first will be a ball held sometime around Halloween. I expect the two of you to arrange the affair together, of course. Let your imaginations flow freely, but not too freely," he chuckled. "Please do run everything past me by the first of October.

"I suppose that is it for today. Unless there are any questions?" Dumbledore looked at the two students sitting in front of him. They both shook their head, mainly because they were too taken aback by the fact that Dumbledore expected them to work together. "No? Well then, if you like, you may return to class, although," he looked at his watch, "there's only about twenty minutes of class left, so, if you both like, you may be excused and go somewhere quiet to begin discussing your new project."

"Thank you, sir," Hermione replied.

"Yes, _thank you_," Malfoy drawled, getting up. Hermione followed him out of the room. "So?" he asked.

"So, what?" Hermione said.

He sighed, "God, I knew Mudbloods were stupid and all, but come on. Do you want to start this thing now?"

"Just shut up Malfoy! I just want to go to class in case I miss something important. We'll have plenty of time to work on this assignment together."

"Suit yourself, but do you really think that great oaf is going to teach us anything worth knowing?"

Hermione ignored him.


	3. Chapter 2

**_A/N Well, here's another chapter for you all to enjoy. Oh, and to herovillain: I'm still not completely sure of how I'm going to bring them together lol. I definately don't want them to have crazy sex all of a sudden! (as you said, that's not Hermione's style).

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"So we have to work in partners?" Hermione asked in disbelief as she, Harry, and Ron made their way back to the castle.

"Yup," said Ron. "I get to be with Goyle," he made a face, "and Harry here gets to work with Crabbe. You," he laughed, "are partners with Pansy."

"_What_!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and apparently we have to do this partner thing for every class," said Harry.

"That's just not fair. We should at least get to choose our partners; I want someone with intellect," Hermione said as they arrived in the cold dungeons.

"Since when do any of the Slytherins have intellect?" Ron asked.

"Some have it more than others," she replied as the three of them entered the Potions classroom and sat down at the front three desks.

"Wh--" Ron started, but he was interrupted.

"Settle down, settle down," Professor Snape said drearily. "I must first tell you all that you will be working with partners that I had the _delight_," the word leaked with sarcasm, "of choosing. As incompetent as some of you may be, I'm sure you all understood Professor Dumbledore's speech about school unity. Therefore, there will be one Gryffindor and one Slytherin for each pair. You will be partners with for the entire year. _No exceptions_. The list of partners are on the board," he flicked his wand and a list of students' names and their partners appeared on the front board.

Hermione scanned the list until she found her name. She looked to see who her partner was. _Great_, she thought as she got up and went over to the Slytherin side to find Millicent Bulstrode. _Well I guess she's better than Pansy_. Hermione sat down beside her and looked around to see who Ron and Harry's partners were. Harry was paired up with a dark-haired boy Hermione thought was Blaise Zabini and Ron was paired up with --she almost laughed out loud-- Malfoy. She noticed Neville looked terrified to be partners with Goyle, Dean Thomas was partnered with Crabbe, and Seamus Finnigan was partners with a sandy blond haired boy she didn't know. Before she could see who else was partnered with whom, Snape began to speak again. Hermione automatically leaned forward.

"As I said, the person sitting next to you will be your partner for the rest of the year. Where you are seated now will be your permanent seat from now on. You will work together for most assignments and you will be marked accordingly. That is to say, if one of you fails to complete a task, the other shall suffer as well," Snape eyed the classroom.

"Today, you and your partner will produce Veritaserum. Veritaserum is a potion that will force the drinker to speak only the truth. However, Veritaserum has the best effect when it is administered without the drinker's knowledge as many witches and wizards are able develop immunity upon this awareness. There is more information on Veritaserum on page 176 of your textbook. Instructions are on the board," Snape waived his wand and the names disappeared only to be replaced by the directions.

Being partnered with Millicent wasn't as bad as Hermione had originally thought; she really didn't say much and she definitely did her share of work. By the end of class, they had produced a perfect vial of Veritaserum that Hermione handed in.

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Hermione was exhausted by the end of the day. She was partnered twice again that day; she was to work with Arabella Sleet for Arithmancy and Daphne Flannery for Charms. She had quickly eaten her supper and returned to the dormitory she and Malfoy shared to complete her homework.

It was nearing midnight when Hermione was distracted by loud screaming. Grabbing her wand from her bedside, she jumped up from her bed to locate the source; it was coming from Malfoy's bedroom. "Hello?" she called out tentatively. "Are you okay?" No one answered, but the screaming continued.

"Oh, God!" she heard. Hermione tried the door, but it was locked. "Alohomora," she whispered, pointing her wand at the door. Hearing the door unlock with a click, Hermione reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed after a few seconds, finally comprehending what she was seeing in front of her. There on the bed was a naked Malfoy thrusting. Below him was a screaming Pansy, her eyes closed and her face scrunched up. Neither of them seemed to realize Hermione was there, so she quickly turned around and left the room, locking the door behind her.

Hermione couldn't get Malfoy's image out of her head. _How the hell could I have been so stupid? _she thought, making her way back to her bedroom. Hearing the screams now, she wondered why she had first thought someone was being hurt. It was obvious that they were cries of pleasure.

She suddenly felt very tired. Hermione gathered her books, quills, and parchment together and carefully put them into her backpack. She set her backpack on the burgundy chair across from her bed and made her way to the drawer to get her pyjamas. She quickly changed into her night clothes, extinguished the candles that lit the room, and climbed in her bed, underneath the warm covers. Within a few minutes, Hermione had drifted to sleep, Malfoy's image never completely leaving her mind.


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N well here's chapter three! I'm sorry to say, but I won't be updating for about a month or so. I seemed to have forgotten that I was going on vacation, lol. Well, I didn't really forget, I just lost track of time... I thought I was leaving a week from Tuesday, but it seems I'm leaving this Tuesday. oops. Anyways, there's a bit of good news, as a result...I will have a few chapters to upload after I come back, so you won't have to wait long for me to update :).**_

**_Again, thanks everyone for reviewing! I'm glad a lot of you liked the little Pansy thing that I wrote! I thought it was fairly humerous...it's one of my favourite scenes (lol, not that I have many)._**

**RonniekinzLuvr _-- it is just Draco...hehehe a bit of foreshadowing (I tend to do that a lot, so everyone should keep an eye out for that ;))_**

**herovillain_-- I don't think that Hermione will actually befriend any Slytherins (well, besides the obvious)... maybe more of a civility_**_ **or**_** _acquaintance with them._**

**ocardevoli_-- lol, I don't mind Pansy (well, in my story, anyways). Oh, there will be pleanty of conversation between Draco and Hermione to come. Also, I think I made this chapter a bit longer, or it could just be all the writing I'm doing now (sorry!). I try to make them longer, but I am busy, so I write and post what I can, when I can.

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Hermione awoke early the next morning with a mass of ginger fluff purring contently next to her. "Hey, Crookshanks," she said sleepily, petting the cat. The Gryffindor checked the alarm clock on the bed table; it was 6:45. Deciding she could sleep no longer, Hermione slowly rolled out of bed and made her way into the bathroom, across the hall from her bedroom.

"Learn to knock, Granger," a familiar voice drawled as Hermione walked into the lavatory.

"Learn to lock the door, Malfoy," she retorted. She was a bit surprised to find him here; she didn't figure him an early riser. Hermione made a mental note to get up earlier.

"That didn't seem to stop you last night," he replied, smirking as he turned around to face Hermione. "Did you like the show?"

Hermione went crimson. "Get over yourself!" was all she managed to say.

"Right. Now be a good little Mudblood and get out. Unless you want a second show?" Malfoy began to strip off his shirt. Hermione never moved so quickly in her life.

**OoooooO**

Thanks to Malfoy, Hermione didn't have time for breakfast and was nearly late for Transfiguration (well, late for Hermione). With only a few minutes to spare before class started, Hermione slid into one of the front desks beside Ron. "Where were you at breakfast?" he asked, worriedly.

"Malfoy was being a git, as usual," she explained. "He took _forever_ getting ready, probably just to annoy me."

"Wanker," Ron muttered as Professor McGonagall began to speak.

"Welcome to seventh year Transfiguration," the professor started. "There is no doubt that this year will be your most difficult yet, but with hard work, determination, and a bit of diplomacy, it will also be your most rewarding year. As you all most likely know, you will be working in pairs for most of your assignments this year. I shall inform you that these partnerships will contain one Gryffindor and one Slytherin; you will not be able to change your partner." McGonagall strolled over to her desk to retrieve a long bit of parchment. "I ask you to settle in your group after I've finished reading the list. Your partners are as follows; Zabini and Brown, Crabbe and Potter, Weasley and Bulstrode, Goyle and Finnigan, Granger and Malfoy, Patil and Parkinson …" she continued down the list. When the last pair was announced, the class rearranged themselves around the room.

"So we meet again," Malfoy spoke.

"Apparently so," said Hermione indifferently. "By the way, thanks for making me late," she said sarcastically.

"You deserved it."

"What! How on earth was it my fault?"

"Because you are a nosy little Mudblood who spies on me."

Hermione reddened. "I didn't--" she started, but she was interrupted by McGonagall.

"Today, we attempt dis-Transfiguration **_(see A/N below)_**. Dis-Transfiguration is a complex procedure; it involves looking at an object that has been Transfigured and determining the spell that will transform it back to its original state. Remember the clues you have learned to identify a Transfigured item. Dis-Transfiguration is very hard as it requires the witch or wizard to pay close attention to small details. It is also especially hard due to the fact that objects can be Transfigured several times over. Today, you and your partner will be given an object each to Transfigure. Do not tell your partner what the object is, or show it to them. You will then pass over the Transfigured object to your partner, who will determine the counter-spell to return the article to its original state. You may begin." McGonagall began handing each student a small object.

Hermione was given a white and grey striped kitten to Transfigure. While she was deciding, she heard Malfoy ask, "Aren't you finished yet?"

"You're already done?" she asked, amazed. They had just started!

"Obviously. Here." He pushed a bell jar in front of her. "It appears that I've just beaten the best student to attend Hogwarts," he said smugly.

"Only because you keep on bothering me," she snapped. "So shut up so I can concentrate." Surprisingly, Malfoy obliged. A few moments later, Hermione had Transfigured her kitten into a water glass; she handed the glass to Malfoy, who nearly dropped it as he was trying not to physically touch her. Hermione noticed, "I'm not going to taint you, you know."

"I'd rather not take my chances," he quipped. He carefully turned the glass around in his hands, looking at every detail. Not a moment later, he muttered the counter-spell, smugly setting the purring kitten on the desk they were sitting at. "Granger, I thought you'd at least give me a challenge; that was too easy. There were whisker marks underneath," Malfoy explained.

Hermione sighed and got to work on Malfoy's bell jar. She looked over every element of the jar, finally spotting a tiny number "9" on the inside lid and a pinprick of a clock-hand on the side of the jar. She decided it was a pocket-watch and spoke the counter-spell; Malfoy's bell jar returned to a gold pocket-watch.

"That was easy," she lied, setting the pocket-watch on the desk. In reality, Malfoy did an extremely good job; the tiny marks would have gone unnoticed by most wizards.

"Sure it was, Granger," he seemed to know she was lying. Hermione noticed Malfoy gently petting the small kitten she had Transfigured. He saw her staring, "What the hell are you staring at?" he asked, a familiar sneer spreading across his face.

"Nothing," she replied, looking away. Truth be told, she was a bit shocked by the softness he was displaying.

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**_A/N I don't remember if "Dis-Transfiguration" is actually in the books; it seems oddly familiar…I do apologize if it is, or if it's someone else's idea (I really don't know!). It seems awfully impressive of me to come up with this all by myself; I'm not generally that creative, lol. Oh and I'm sorry for putting an A/N in the middle of a story, I hate it when people do that, lol, and I'm sure there's a lot of you put there who feel the same way. I'll shut up... for now :) _**


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